Barcelona Sign Ousmane Dembele for £97m

Barcelona have reached an agreement to sign Borussia Dortmund forward Ousmane Dembele for a club-record fee. The 20-year-old France international forward will undergo a medical on Monday and sign a five-year contract. He has been given squad number 11.

“The player will sign a five year contract and his buy out-clause is set at 400 million euros.”

The fee is the second highest of all time, behind just the £200m PSG paid Barcelona for Neymar earlier this summer, and the add-ons in the deal are up to 40 per cent of initial fee, which equates to 42 million Euros (£38m).

Barca coach Ernesto Valverde is thrilled to have landed Dembele and said: “He is a player who guarantees us depth, something that we have lost and that we need.

“He can play on the wing and also as a striker, and in that sense offers us many possibilities.

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said last week Dortmund would not wait until the last few days of the transfer window for a deal to be agreed, insisting the 20-year-old would be staying at the club if their asking price was not met.

Barcelona Sign Ousmane Dembele for £97m

Borussia Dortmund sporting director Michael Zorc said last week Dortmund would not wait until the last few days of the transfer window for a deal to be agreed, insisting the 20-year-old would be staying at the club if their asking price was not met.

Dembele only joined Dortmund from French Ligue 1 club Rennes last summer in £13m deal. He had been of interest to the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool in the Premier League in 2016.

Philippe Coutinho is hoping Barcelona do not give up on him when they sign Ousmane Dembele from Borussia DortmundDembele scored six goals and contributed 13 assists in 32 Bundesliga matches during his first season at the Westfalenstadion.

Rennes are due 25 per cent of the fee Barcelona have paid for Dembele under the terms of a sell-on clause.

Allan Bangirana is a freelance writer for Newslibre and Spur Magazine. He is also the co-founder of the Innovware project and a freelance consultant passionate about tech, programming, games and entertainment.